Shinsoo Choo “I don’t have time to look left and right…I’ll give it my all in the second half”
“There’s about two and a half months left (of the season), and I don’t have time to look left or right. I’ll give it my all.”
SSG veteran batsman Choo Shin-soo (41) predicted a second-half sprint to win the title for the second consecutive year. He is determined to put the disappointment of an eventful first half behind him and look only ahead.
“I had a good rest during the All-Star break for the first time during the season in Korea with my family,” said Shin-soo Choo on Sunday at SSG Landers Field in Incheon. “I tried not to think about baseball during the break, but our first opponent in the second half is LG (who are chasing the lead). It’s a really important series, so I was thinking about how to prepare for the three-game series against LG.”
The first three games of the second half, which resume on the 21st, are crucial. Second-place SSG is 2.5 games behind first-place LG, so a three-game sweep would give them a chance to take the lead. Choo Shin-soo, who had a weak 0.083 batting average against LG this year, will have to pave the way for the offense. “The time to warm up is over,” Choo said, “I have to make sure I don’t get sick and do everything I can. The big goal is to win.”
Choo Shin-soo made headlines during the season when he requested to be sent to the second team. Courtesy of SSG
In the first half of the season, Shin-Soo Choo batted .243 with seven home runs, 20 RBIs, and 33 runs scored. His on-base percentage, his best attribute, was less than 4% (.394). He struggled with the aftermath of an ankle injury, and his batting slump led to a voluntary stint on the second team. “In the first half, there were injuries and I wasn’t good enough, which is unfortunate because I personally have high expectations,” Shin-soo Choo said, “but I finished the first half with the expectation that something good will happen in the second half.”메이저놀이터
Shin-Soo Choo’s move to the second team was a big deal at the time. It was highly unusual for a veteran with a storied major league career to be sent down to the second team after consulting with the manager. “In the U.S., I’ve been lower, and I started at the bottom,” he said. “A lot of people asked me, ‘Isn’t it a blow to your pride,’ but it’s not a blow to your pride, or a blow to your career, because I was just trying to play further.”
Off the field, he hit a “leadoff home run. In May, he secretly paid for the rehabilitation of fighter Kim Dong-hyun (real name Ma Dong-hyun), who was paralyzed, and his donations totaled more than 2 billion won. He also decided to use all the proceeds from the sale of his namesake bottled water, Chu Shin-su, to promote youth baseball.
Choo Shin-soo poses with a bottle of Choo Shin-soo, a bottled water launched to support youth baseball in South Korea. Courtesy of SSG
“My wife jokingly said, ‘You’re paying to come to Korea and play baseball,'” he laughs, adding, “I didn’t come to Korea to make money. I’ve received a lot from baseball, so I’m trying to give back a little bit. I hope that a culture of thinking about the other person before myself will be created.”
“People’s minds change from time to time depending on the environment and circumstances, so I don’t have a set end in mind,” he said, explaining that he enjoys hanging out with his teammates on the field. “I’ve been playing baseball for more than 30 years and I’ve never felt old, but this year I’m feeling it. If I get sick, I can’t play, but other than that, my feelings about baseball haven’t changed.”
However, he is confident that he would have no regrets if he were to quit baseball immediately. “I have regrets that I couldn’t be a better player in the major leagues, but as a baseball player, I’m more proud of the heart and passion I put into each game than anyone else. I don’t think I would regret it much if I quit playing baseball now,” he said. “In my heart, I want to play baseball until I die, but I think I can live with a smile even if I retire.”